The present invention relates to surgical instruments, with some embodiments relating clamps, articulated clamps, and tissue ablating clamps. Surgery generally refers to the diagnosis or treatment of injury, deformity, or disease. In a variety of surgical procedures, it is desired to ablated tissue or cause lesions in tissue. Some examples of such procedures include, without limitation, electrical isolation of the pulmonary veins to treat atrial fibrillation, ablation of uterine tissue associated with endometriosis, ablation of esophageal tissue associated with Barrett's esophagus, ablation of cancerous liver tissue, and the like. The foregoing examples are merely illustrative and not exhaustive. While a variety of techniques and devices have been used to ablate or cause lesions in tissue, no one has previously made or used an ablation device in accordance with the present invention. Other aspects of the present teaching relate to novel clamping devices and are not limited to tissue ablation.